Robin Gourlay

Member of Eating City International Platform Steering Committee, Leader of PFS internal Focus Group

Robin Gourlay

Robin Gourlay was drafted into the Scottish Government to work on the delivery of the National Food and Drink Policy. The current programme of work looks at increasing the adoption of sustainable food and drink procurement across Scotland in the public sector. An important aspect is increasing the understanding of Caterers and Buyers how to factor in sustainability, how this helps deliver a range of Government policies and why this is important. The work also entails liaising with the Scottish food and drink industry on widening the competitive base for public sector contracts by showing how SMEs can access and compete for public sector food and drink contracts. He has a varied CV, having started in Hotel Management, Catering Officer at the University of Aberdeen, Strathclyde Colleges Refectories Manager, and then Client Contract Manager for Strathclyde Regional Council where he was responsible for 2,100 catering locations of which 1,800 were schools. At East Ayrshire Council he has managed at various times Transport, Property, Leisure, Refuse Collection, Street Cleaning, Grounds Maintenance and Cleaning, Janitorial, School Crossing and Catering Services. He believes that public food and in particular school food is uniquely placed to deliver a community focused health improvement, sustainability and economic development agenda.